If you’re one of the rare individuals who hasn’t been emotionally devastated by One Day and is ready to cry some more, there are plenty of other Netflix programmes that will make you reach for the Kleenex.
The adaptation of David Nicholl’s best-selling 2009 novel, which premiered on Netflix last week, has had viewers ‘sobbing themselves to sleep’ as they witness Dexter Mayhew (Leo Woodall) and Emma Morley (Ambika Mod) establish their relationship and ultimate love story.
Many stated that going through the 14 episodes in less than a week caused ‘irreparable mental damage’.
One even targeted Netflix, claiming it would ‘pay for its sins’ after convincing them to ‘believe in love and then take out my heart afterwards’.
Another stated that they have ‘never felt more emotionally distressed’.
Despite many people admitting they’d struggle to commit to another series because they were afraid they’d weep again, here are some of our recommendations for what to watch if you’re ready for more ugly sobbing.
Best emotional Netflix shows to watch after you’ve seen One Day
Heartstopper
Heartstopper is based on Alice Oseman’s webcomic and graphic novel of the same name. It follows Charlie Spring (Joe Locke), a homosexual youngster who falls in love with classmate Nick Nelson (Kit Connor).
The first season premiered in 2022 and was well-received by reviewers and audiences alike, with many appreciating the show’s representation of LGBT people.
The teaser had viewers ‘weeping’ before it ever aired, but after they saw the episodes, the tears continued to flow as they watched the blooming relationship grow.
The third season is also on the way, with Alice recently stating that the new episodes will focus more on mental health.
It’s A Sin
It was absolutely impossible to get through It’s A Sin without crying.
Russell T Davies wrote the 2021 series, which was place in London from 1981 and 1991 and followed a group of homosexual men and their friends throughout the UK’s HIV/AIDS epidemic.
It stars Olly Alexander, Omari Douglas, Callum Scott Howells, Lydia West, Nathaniel Curtis, as well as Keeley Hawes, Neil Patrick Harris, and Stephen Fry.
The sorrowful climax saw one of the major protagonists die of AIDS after the disease ravaged the friendship group.
Despite the series’ terrible conclusion, the show was credited with sparking an increase in HIV testing in the weeks after its premiere.
Boy Swallows Universe
This Australian coming-of-age drama, which premiered on Netflix last month, is dark and nasty, yet it has also moved many people to tears.
Based on writer Trent Dalton’s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, the series stars Felix Cameron as Eli Bell, a young child living in Brisbane’s suburbs who encounters some of the city’s most violent criminals.
The cast also includes Travis Fimmel, Simon Baker, Phoebe Tonkin, and Bryan Brown.
Viewers have praised the programme as ‘outstanding’,’remarkable’, and ’10/10′, and despite the terrible images, they have left them tearful.
Some have described leaving ‘with tears in my eyes’, ‘weeping an ocean’, and ‘sobbing at the beautiful finish’.
In one poignant scene, Eli breaks down as his drug dealer stepfather tells him off, declaring that he ‘simply has a lot of tears inside me’.
All the Light We Cannot See
All The Light We Cannot See, based on Anthony Doerr’s 2014 war novel, follows two teens during World War II: Marie-Laure, a blind French girl, and Werner Pfennig, a German youth compelled to enlist and fight for the Nazi dictatorship.
Many readers were hesitant to start the series since the book’s heartbreaking finale left them in tears.
Unsurprisingly, they burst into tears.
Many viewers expressed emotional distress prior to the last show.
After Life
Ricky Gervais delivered sucker punch after sucker punch over the course of three seasons of After Life, his emotionally charged sitcom about grief.
The comic played newspaper journalist Tony Johnson, whose life is flipped upside down when his wife Lisa (Kerry Godliman) dies from breast cancer.
After deciding not to carry out his plans to kill himself, Tony’s strategy is to go about life saying and doing whatever he wants, frequently being harsh to those around him.
Throughout the series, there were several situations that moved fans to tears, with Ricky revealing that one scene ‘chokes me up’ even after seeing it ‘over 70 times’.
‘It’s when Lisa reads the poem in episode six honestly, I gag.
‘It’s such an amazing poem, it’s such an amazing performance and what’s happening while it’s happening.
‘Honestly, that poem, I’ve loved it for years I’ve always wanted to use it, it’s devastating,’ he added.
Following the last episode, he said that he was ‘genuinely overwhelmed’ by the feedback, with one admirer writing: ‘What a perfect ending, not a dry eye in sight.’
Everything Now
Viewers complimented Everything Now, a coming-of-age series that passed under the radar, for its realistic depiction of life with an eating issue.
It starred Sophie Wilde as Mia, a 16-year-old London girl who returns to sixth form following a hospitalisation for anorexia nervosa.
Soon after finishing the programmes, people expressed their opinions on social media.
‘Everything Now on Netflix was so good omg I was crying so much at the last ep the way this show portrayed eating disorders was so raw,’ one fan shared.
Another said it had left them a ‘emotional wreck’.
They are now waiting with expectation to see if the streaming provider would give their request for another season.
Good Grief
Although this is a movie, we couldn’t pass up Schitt Creek’s Dan Levy’s latest film, which depicts a guy attempting to go on with his life after losing his love.
After Oliver (Luke Evans) dies in a vehicle accident, Marc (Dan) relies on his two best friends, Sophie (Ruth Negga) and Thomas (Himesh Patel), only to learn that his husband had been keeping a secret in the months leading up to his death.
One user described the film as their ‘first sobbing sesh of 2024,’ and if that’s not a compelling cause to watch and cry, we don’t know what is.